LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Sectional meets have become a delicate balance of competing well enough to qualify for district while adhering to the training plan that will allow success in district and state meets. Few teams have found a formula that works better than the Strongsville boys and girls who both won Northwest sectional swimming championships at Lakewood High School. The sectional wins were the sixth in a row for the boys and the eighth for the girls.

Strongsville's boys won one individual event with Ian Simpson taking the 100-yard backstroke (54.93). They also won two of the three relays including the 400 freestyle relay (3:14:38) and the 200 medley relay (1:39.98). Those wins, and a lot of second and third place finishes gave them a total of 435 points which allowed them to edge St. Edward (379) and St. Ignatius (327).

"We wanted to set the tone for district and state today," Simpson said. "I'm very glad we won our sixth title, we know this is a stepping stone to where we want go."

Berea-Midpark's boys finished fourth, bolstered by an upset win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:30:35). The race was expected to be a battle between St. Ignatius and Strongsville, but the Titans shaved two seconds off their seed time and edged the Wildcats by less than half a second.

Nathan Christian of St. Ignatius won the 50 freestyle (21.72) and 100 freestyle (47.92). Christian was pleased with the wins even though they were not his personal best times.

"I knew I had to battle today, I've been sluggish because I won't start tapering," Christian said. "You can't win state today but you can lose by not performing well and I didn't want that to happen."

Washko won the 100 breaststroke (1:07.31), 50 freestyle (25.03) and was on the winning 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays.

D'Abato was joined Washko on the relays and won the 100 butterfly (58.82).

"I didn't feel my best and knew it would be a grind today," Washko said. "My goal is winning state but the road to Canton starts here so I was ready to go. Sectional meets are harder than people think for swimmers like me who haven't tapered, you're swimming against girls who are trying to get what you have on more rest."

Magnificat was second with 317 points, followed by Rocky River 281, Avon Lake 205 and Avon 154.

Rocky River's Lauren Devorace had a solid meet. Devorace won the 500 freestyle (5:10.78) and posted a meet record 200 freestyle time of 1:56.20.

She was also on the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:43.24).

"I wanted to do well today and make sure I qualified for district," Devorace said. "It was important to me to remove all doubt so I can get ready for the next step of my training program and be sure I'm on point for state."

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